Chapter 490: Dark Box Struggle

Bai Qu'er still held the Dragon God Pearl high, carrying Bai Qingfu and his wife's child, and turned to lead the crowd into the darkness.

The Dragon God Pearl emitted a tranquil light, dispelling the darkness. They had to reach the upcoming inn as quickly as possible to seek protection from the deities there.

Next to the box, the Dragon Qilin shook its body and let out a low roar. Qin Mu took out a large cauldron and tossed it to Ban Gongcuo. Ban Gongcuo looked at the cauldron, which was missing a leg, and shook his head, saying, "The cauldron is broken; its power is damaged. I'm afraid it can't protect us. Fortunately, I have other treasures."

He stuffed the cauldron back into his Taotie pouch, then retrieved a large gourd. He wrapped the gourd's strap around his body and chuckled, "Cult Master Qin, this is my spirit weapon from my first life, called the Azure Blood Gourd. It's my famous treasure, and I haven't used it in a long time. I've always hoped to break through and integrate everything I've learned over the past ten thousand years to reforge my Azure Blood Gourd, but I've never been able to perfectly fuse so many cultivation techniques."

He hoisted the gourd onto his back. The large gourd was over three feet tall, and since Ban Gongcuo had no legs, carrying it made him look a bit awkward.

"Great Venerable, I didn't expect you once had such lofty ambitions."

Qin Mu took a knife sheath from his Taotie pouch, put on its straps, and slung it over his back. He then pulled out two butcher knives and inserted them into the sheath, saying, "It's a pity that after realizing you couldn't become a god, you became twisted and went astray."

Ban Gongcuo looked at his Taotie pouch and sneered, "Do you think you won't become twisted if you realize you can't achieve godhood? That Taotie pouch is mine!"

"I picked it up from the Golden Palace."

Qin Mu took out a large iron hammer from the Taotie pouch and swung it gently. The hammer rang out, its head continuously splitting and expanding outwards to a circumference of eight feet, rotating around the handle as its center.

When he stopped channeling his magic, the hammer contracted, returning to its normal size.

Qin Mu secured the hammer firmly into a leather loop next to the knife sheath on his back. He then took out a bamboo staff, waved it gently, making a series of afterimages appear, and also fastened it to his back.

Ban Gongcuo was stunned, watching as Qin Mu pulled out brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone from his Taotie pouch and tucked them into his sleeve. Several scrolls were also secured with other loops on the back of his knife sheath. Ban Gongcuo couldn't help but laugh, "Great Cult Master Qin, are you going on stage to perform a play? Your back is almost completely covered!"

Qin Mu then retrieved a poison pouch and sword pellets. The poison pouch contained bottles of various sizes, while the sword pellets disintegrated into eight thousand flying swords. He poisoned each of these flying swords and said, "It's always good to be prepared. When I first emerged from the Great Ruins back then, this was my attire. Though it looked rustic, it was practical. Later, when I gained status and position, I became less 'rustic.' But in a life-and-death battle, the more rustic you look, the higher your combat power!"

Hearing this, Ban Gongcuo took seven flags from his Taotie pouch and fastened them to his back. He also retrieved a bronze mirror with a loop on the back, which he slipped onto his left arm like a shield.

He then took out a set of throwing knives, which hung in bundles, packed tightly on both inner sides of his robe.

Qin Mu was stunned to see Ban Gongcuo also pulling out several sword cases and standing them by his feet, along with knife pellets, a common weapon on the grasslands.

However, Ban Gongcuo's knife pellets were extraordinary, far surpassing those used by other grassland experts in quality.

He also produced a Taiji disc, a Buddhist shrine containing a small Buddha statue, and then a thick pillar, which he stood beside him. The pillar was covered in glowing runes that pulsed in and out of existence.

"Great Venerable, your wealth is truly astonishing."

Qin Mu praised him, "The Imperial Preceptor and I have raided your Golden Palace several times, yet you still possess so many precious treasures!"

Ban Gongcuo sneered, "You've lived for ten thousand years; you must have accumulated even more! They're here, open your eyes!"

Buddhist light blazed in his eyes as he activated his Buddhist Heavenly Eye. Immediately, within the Buddhist light, a Daoist Eye of the Dao Sect formed, taking the shape of a Yin-Yang Taiji diagram!

Ban Gongcuo looked into the darkness, but could only see shadowy figures indistinctly.

"Open!" Qin Mu roared softly, activating the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Method.

Starlight burst forth in his eyes, and a great sun appeared within the starlit river. Immediately, layers of formation patterns emerged. The Blind man had merged the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Method with Sister Qing's First God Eye from the Primordial Era, making it more powerful and enhancing its divine abilities. However, this type of divine eye consumed more magical power, and Qin Mu could currently only barely activate the Bright Sky Eye, which had five layers.

For everyday use, he still primarily relied on the Vermilion Sky Eye.

The darkness ahead was too dense for the Vermilion Sky Eye to see far, so he activated the Bright Sky Eye this time.

The Dragon Qilin also widened its eyes to look but saw nothing. It asked, "Cult Master, what do you see?"

Ban Gongcuo couldn't see very far either, only discerning more than a dozen figures approaching from the darkness. He asked, "Cult Master Qin, there are only about a dozen people, right?"

Qin Mu stared directly into the darkness, nodded, and smiled, "It's just these dozen or so divine arts practitioners, don't worry."

Ban Gongcuo breathed a sigh of relief and laughed heartily, "I thought I'd end up like Bai Qingfu and his wife, dying here for a bunch of lowly commoners. I'm not that noble. It seems following Cult Master Qin brings immense blessings; I won't die!"

The Dragon Qilin snickered, "The Cult Master always turns misfortune into good fortune!"

Xing An's box also popped open and closed, as if laughing.

Qin Mu also smiled, extending his hand to point. The box split into four pieces and laid flat.

Xing An's box was made from the hide and bones of a Taotie. The bones formed the structure of the box, and the hide covered it.

Now that the box was spread out, it instantly created a safe space one hundred *zhang* in radius around them.

Standing in this safe zone, protected by the box's divine light, they had no need to fear the encroaching darkness.

Ban Gongcuo arranged his various treasures, while the Dragon Qilin watched in horror at the shelves laid out in the box, adorned with various arms and legs. Ban Gongcuo, noticing Qin Mu wasn't looking, secretly plucked two legs and stuffed them into his Taotie pouch, then hung his own poisoned leg on the shelf.

Qin Mu pretended not to notice, looking ahead. Under the gaze of his Bright Sky Eye, behind the dozen or so approaching figures, was a large army of hundreds of "fiends from beyond the domain"!

They stood silently. At their head was a tall figure, riding a burly exotic beast, calmly observing the dozen or so divine arts practitioners leading the charge.

These dozen divine arts practitioners were merely a test, probing their strength!

Qin Mu kept what he saw to himself. He took a long breath. The sword pellets slid from his sleeve, silently rolling to the edge of the box and burrowing into the earth. Underground, the sword pellets disintegrated, and countless tiny flying swords extended far out, spreading beneath the ground for a hundred *zhang* in all directions.

"Attack!"

Qin Mu roared. The two butcher knives behind him sprang from their sheaths, and he gripped them in his hands.

At that moment, the dozen or so divine arts practitioners charged forward. The Dragon Qilin opened its mouth and roared, a pillar of raging true fire erupting from its maw and blasting forward. The fire pillar exploded, and the figures weaved past each other, avoiding the blast and rushing towards the Dragon Qilin.

The Dragon Qilin moved its head, and the fire pillar swept in all directions. One of the attackers clasped his hands downwards, causing the earth to swell, but it was suppressed by the box and couldn't be lifted.

Another person unleashed brilliant blade light, their sword techniques incredibly refined. The blade light spun furiously around the fire pillar, slicing through the Dragon Qilin's attack. Qin Mu, wielding his knives, moved his feet, back-to-back with the knife-wielder.

That divine arts practitioner was also formidable, knowing that in such close-quarters combat of martial techniques, life and death were decided in an instant, dependent on each other's blade work and footwork.

The two moved and spun rapidly like tops, blade lights flashing, and victory was instantly decided.

"Excellent blade work!"

The man's head flew up and fell into the darkness, turning back to offer a word of praise.

His flying head saw his body falling, while Qin Mu, struck in the chest by another divine arts practitioner's palm, had his body coiled like a dragon. His vital qi transformed into a dragon, coiling around his opponent's arm, and on the other side, his two knives moved unbelievably fast, a myriad of blade lights slashing down on his opponent!

"Truly excellent blade work!"

The man's head praised again, then darkness engulfed his vision, making it impossible to see Qin Mu's knives anymore.

His head hit the ground, rolled a few times, still wide-eyed as his consciousness slowly faded: "To die by such blade work..."

Ban Gongcuo's knife pellets floated in the air. He attacked almost simultaneously with Qin Mu. The knife pellets crisscrossed, countless blade lights continuously slashing close to the ground. At the same time, from the Azure Blood Gourd on his back, a blood waterfall surged forth with a gushing sound, sweeping up a divine arts practitioner who was trying to dodge his leg-slashing blade light.

The blood waterfall surged, filled with various insects, instantly devouring the opponent completely!

Clanging sounds rang out as another divine arts practitioner moved by stepping on knives, kicking them down as he approached Ban Gongcuo. With a raised hand, divine thunder erupted, falling like rain.

Ban Gongcuo endured the "five thunder strike," raised his hand, and swept his sleeve, unleashing countless throwing knives that impaled the man, his head and face covered in them.

The Dragon Qilin roared, manifesting its forty-zhang true form, and counter-attacked, batting its opponents to death and biting them to pieces.

A moment later, Qin Mu slew the last enemy, kicked the corpse away, and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. These divine arts practitioners were all highly cultivated, mostly at the Six Directions and Seven Stars realms. There was also one Celestial realm expert who had been entangled by the Dragon Qilin; their primordial spirit was so powerful that they almost lifted the Dragon Qilin and threw it into the darkness.

It took the combined efforts of Qin Mu, Ban Gongcuo, and the Dragon Qilin to finally kill the opponent within this hundred-*zhang* space.

Ban Gongcuo had also taken several divine art hits and was a mess. He decided not to hide it from Qin Mu and attached the two divine legs to himself.

Qin Mu pretended not to see, smiling, "Great Venerable, hurry up and attach them. Our opponents won't give us time."

"Opponents?"

Ban Gongcuo laughed, "Haven't we killed all the opponents?"

He looked up into the darkness and saw a dense mass of figures rushing out of it. He froze, then quickly turned to flee. But since outside was only darkness, he stopped again.

"No way out!"

Ban Gongcuo turned back, crying loudly, "Cult Master Qin, there's no way out! You've damned me to death!"

Qin Mu stood in the center of the hundred-*zhang* space, re-sheathing his two large knives. With a thud, a Sun Jade Eye landed beside him. He declared loudly, "Those who trespass, die!"

"Boastful words!"

A fiend from beyond the domain, a divine arts practitioner, charged forward, howling. Suddenly, a sword light shot from the ground, piercing his chest and entering his skull.

This divine arts practitioner stumbled forward dozens of steps before collapsing at Qin Mu's feet.

Qin Mu smiled, facing the hundreds of fiends from beyond the domain in the darkness, and repeated, "Those who trespass, die!"

"I'll kill you!"

A giant, wielding a large shield, leaped forward. He threw the shield to his feet, blocking the sword light emerging from underground. Simultaneously, he roared, his body suddenly transforming into the form of a deity with a turtle shell on his back and a large snake coiled around him. He landed heavily in the space opened by the box. He threw a punch, and a flying serpent shrieked, coiling around his fist.

*Clang, clang—*

Two blade lights, one horizontal and one vertical, crisscrossed. Then the blade lights suddenly retracted, and the giant was torn into four pieces.

Qin Mu wiped the blood droplets from his knives and grinned, "Those who trespass, die!"

"You two, and a pig, occupying a hundred-*zhang* space, think you can block my army?"

An exotic beast approached. On its back, the leader of this force of fiends from beyond the domain lifted his mask, looked down at Qin Mu, and sneered, "Considering your respectable cultivation and courage, I grant you a death without a complete corpse! All soldiers, heed my command: flatten them!"

All the fiends from beyond the domain, divine arts practitioners, surged forward, submerging the hundred-*zhang* space.

Outside the hundred-*zhang* space, eight thousand swords burst from the earth, forming the first stance of the Sword Diagram, "Swords Trampling Rivers and Mountains," drawing everyone who rushed into the hundred-*zhang* space into the diagram!

But the leader sneered, his primordial spirit soaring into the air and his magic power erupting. He forcibly shook off all the flying swords, shattering the "Swords Trampling Rivers and Mountains" formation!

Ban Gongcuo's face turned pale. He looked up at the powerful being who had effortlessly broken the sword diagram, his heart filled with despair. He murmured, "A general at the Life and Death realm has also arrived. There's no way out. I can't escape anymore..."

"There is a way out!"

Qin Mu roared. A bright light burst forth, piercing towards the general's eyes. The light of the Sun Jade Eye, at the instant the general stabilized the sword diagram, hummed as it shot into his glabella and out the back of his head!

The surging divine arts practitioners swarmed Qin Mu, overwhelming him. The Sun Jade Eye was blasted away by dozens of divine arts, rolling off to the side.

Hope reignited in Ban Gongcuo's heart. With a fierce expression, he charged towards the hundreds of people, "Kill—"

"Kill—"

The Dragon Qilin roared, its scales bristling and flying off its body.

*Bang, bang, bang.*

This hundred-*zhang* space suddenly folded rapidly and closed, enclosing the hundreds of fiends from beyond the domain, along with Ban Gongcuo, Qin Mu, and the Dragon Qilin, all inside the box.

In the darkness, the box emitted a faint glow, but inside, it was an immensely dense darkness, with no light whatsoever. From within the box, heavy thuds continuously resounded.

Terrifying sounds of battle came from inside the box: the slicing of blades through flesh, the dull explosions of divine arts, and blood continuously seeped from the corners of the box.

After a long time, the box became quiet.

*Thud—*

A bloody hand pushed open the box, and a head peeked out, attempting to crawl free. Immediately, the head was pierced by a bamboo staff, which exited through its glabella before retracting.

The box spat out the corpse.

Inside the box, silence reigned again. A moment later, muffled thuds suddenly resumed. The box opened, tossing out one corpse after another.

"In a black box fight, the blind man wins!"

Inside the box, Qin Mu stood with his bamboo staff, surrounded by complete darkness: "My master is a blind man!"